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Friday, October 14, 2011

Did someone say they'd lost a penguin?

Did someone say they'd
lost a penguin? 200,000 young birds search for their hungry chicks

Most parents will know the problem. Your
back is turned for two seconds and your little one has disappeared into the
crowd.Well
just be thankful it’s not a crowd like this.This sea
of black, white and brown is created by 200,000 king penguins searching for
their hungry chicks on the South Atlantic island of South Georgia.

Each year, the king
penguin colony at Salisbury Plains, South Georgia, produces an astonishing
50,000 chicks - a number which is on the rise

And,
incredibly given the apparent chaos, the young birds hardly ever get lost
– thanks to each having a unique begging call.The
scene was captured by German photographer Michael Poliza after the penguins had
returned en masse to their home colony for a new breeding season.

King penguins are 3ft tall and weigh up to
33lbs. They lay just one egg each year and the fluffy brown chicks take 11
months to become self-sufficient, so it’s fortunate for them that their
parents can p-p-p-pick them out.Each
year, the king penguin colony at Salisbury Plains, South Georgia,
produces an astonishing 50,000 chicks - a number which is on the rise.And Mr
Poliza, from Hamburg, Germany, was left speechless when
he was met by the noise, smell and breathtaking sight of the enormous colony.

This sea of black, white
and brown is created by 200,000 king penguins searching for their hungry chicks
on the South Atlantic island

He said:
"Nothing can prepare you for opening your eyes and seeing hundreds of
thousands of penguins right in front of you for as far as you can see."It
was beautiful looking out across a sea of such vibrant colour - I felt a bit
like an opera conductor amidst a one-of-a-kind concert of cries from thousands
of hungry chicks."The
view was even more stunning as it was framed by a truly breathtaking backdrop
of mountains and glaciers."The
chick is a true 'homebody' in every sense of the word. They need about eleven
months to become self-sufficient so it's a good job they have such a unique
cry."King
penguins can recognise each other's call and can find their mate and their
chick among the 200,000 birds in the colony."Each
October king penguins across the sub polar Antarctic regions return to their
home colonies to breed and lay just one precious egg.Dedicated
Michael, who has a new exhibition opening in Germany
at the end of October, had to travel to the Antarctic
Peninsula on a cruise ship to capture the striking shots.

It looks like they're
playing Wheres Wally: The chaotic scenes make it look impossible for the adult
penguins to find their young, but because of their unique begging call
amazingly they never get lost

Photographer Michael
Poliza, who has a new exhibition opening in Germany
at the end of October, had to travel to the Antarctic
Peninsula on a cruise ship to capture the striking shots

He would
wake up at 4am and go straight from his cabin to the upper deck, where a crane
lifted him and a rubber dinghy overboard and lowered them into the icy water.He
added: "Part of the courtship ritual of king penguins is an erect posture
where both sexes make themselves as tall as possible to impress their potential
mate.

"During
the October courtship period, males parade the females with loud calls, an
erect posture and a courtship walk - being the tallest certainly impresses the
females."It
seems like a chaotic mixture of adults and their chicks, and king penguins look
quite comical, but they know exactly what they are doing."On
land, penguins are very curious as there have been no land predators in Antarctica so I was able to get up close to them."I
would love to go back again as it was a truly fantastic experience."